As session ends, lawmakers spar over results of work

The Minnesota Capitol is quiet this morning for the first time in more than three months. The state Senate adjourned the legislative session Thursday afternoon after passing a bill to finance a new football stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.

That measure is the central achievement of a session that some argue is the worst in state history, and the results are now fodder for the upcoming campaign.

The last month of the legislative session focused on three issues: a new stadium, a public works bonding bill and a bill that cuts taxes for businesses and homeowners.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton spent most of his time focused on getting the stadium bill to pass. On Thursday, Dayton was magnanimous in his praise of the stadium deal.

"This was truly a bipartisan effort. The votes showed that and it would not have been successful if it had not been through that bipartisan partnership," Dayton said.

The fact that the stadium bill is headed to the governor's desk is nothing short of remarkable. It passed the House without the support of the Republican Speaker Kurt Zellers and Majority Leader Matt Dean. It passed the GOP-controlled Senate where Republicans are clearly divided over the best direction for the state.

DISAPPOINTING SESSION

Republicans are taking credit for the state's improved fiscal condition. They put two of their long-time priorities on the ballot for voters to decide this fall &mdash an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution to define marriage and a requirement that voters show photo identification at polls.

But when Republicans took over the legislature two years ago, they said their top priority was to cut taxes and government spending. Now some are disappointed.

"This session has been rough. For a fiscal conservative, this session has not been good, said Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, who characterized the 2012 session as a disappointment. He said this year the legislature passed Dayton's priorities, including $500 million dollars in taxpayer money for a new stadium, without getting anything in return.

"We have given in to the Vikings, giving them pretty much what they want. That's not a lever for us anymore. It could be, but we won't use that lever," Thompson said. "We passed a big bonding bill — that those of us who ran on fiscal responsibility are ashamed of — and it sounds like we won't even have the tax bill to show for it."

And that comes from a staunch Republican.

'DE FACTO MINORITY'

DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk was even more direct. He called the stadium the major achievement of the session that Minnesotans will be proud of, once it is built. But he said Republicans don't deserve the credit. Bakk criticized his Republican colleagues, saying the bonding bill and the stadium bill would not have passed if Democrats had not taken the lead and put up most of the votes.

"The new Republican majority, the first time in 38 years here, is acting as a de facto minority because of your unwillingness to take some risk and lead," Bakk said.

Republican leaders have a different perspective. GOP House Speaker Zellers said Dayton preferred to focus on one major initiative at the expense of everything else. Zellers said streamlining business permits and efforts to keep seniors in their homes are big achievements Republicans can point to. He said the legislature also helped balance the state's budget without raising taxes. He said the stadium was Dayton's "only priority."

"His focus on the stadium took the focus off what most Minnesotans want," Zellers said. "Our agenda is what most Minnesotans wanted: property tax relief, looking at small business owners and trying to help them is our number one goal."

But Zellers took some blows in the stadium debate. Unlike Dayton who took a strong position in favor of the stadium and stuck with it, Zellers appeared to waffle. He would not say how he planned to vote until the closing days of the session. Then on a sports talk radio interview, Zellers seemed to say that even though he would vote against the stadium he wanted to see it built. He later said he misspoke, but the episode may have hurt his political prospects, especially if he intends to challenge Dayton for governor in two years.

And that's the big advantage Dayton has over Republican lawmakers. He's not up for re-election until 2014, but they'll all be on the ballot in six months.

Gallery

Gov. Mark Dayton addresses the media at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012. After successfully passing through the House and Senate, the Vikings stadium bill will be signed by the governor.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonView full galleryVikings stadium bill authors Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, and Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, embrace during a press conference at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonVikings owner Zygi Wilf addresses the media at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonVikings owner Zygi Wilf greets Vikings fans at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonVikings owner Zygi Wilf greets Vikings fans at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonVikings owner Zygi Wilf and team president Mark Wilf greet Vikings fans at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonMinneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak greets Vikings fans at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonMinnesota Vikings fans, including Larry Spooner, right, in baseball cap, and David Gunderson, upper right, with face paint, celebrate after the Minnesota Senate voted to approve a new Vikings football stadium, Thursday afternoon, May 10, 2012.AP Photo/The St. Paul Pioneer Press, Chris PolydoroffVikings fans celebrate the Senate's passage of a bill on Thursday, May 10, 2012 that will finance the construction of a new stadium for the NFL team.MPR Photo/Tim NelsonLarry Spooner in the Senate gallery in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012. The Senate was debating the Vikings stadium bill.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonR.T. Rybak and Lester Bagley outside the Senate chambers in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012. The Senate was debating the Vikings stadium bill.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonHouse Speaker Kurt Zellers left a closed-door meeting at the State Office Building as lawmakers, business leaders and local officials hammered out details of a Vikings stadium deal in private. He said he believed the meetings were in compliance with the legislature's open meeting rules.MPR Photo/Tim NelsonSenators Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, and Thomas Bakk, DFL-Cook, chat during the Vikings stadium debate on the floor of the Senate in St. Paul, Minn. Tuesday, May 8, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonSenators debate the Vikings stadium bill in St. Paul, Minn. Tuesday, May 8, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonCollin Walsh, 9, of Lonsdale, Minn. waits behind his parents' sign outside the Senate chambers in St. Paul, Minn. Tuesday, May 8, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonMinnesota Vikings fan George Green of St. Paul, Minn., walks with a team flag in front of the State Capitol in the early evening as lawmakers in the Minnesota House were taking up a bill for a new stadium for the Vikings NFL football team Monday, May 7, 2012, in St. Paul.AP Photo/Jim MoneSpeaker of the House Kurt Zellers listens to the Vikings stadium debate at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Monday, May 7, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonThe desks of House members are covered in documents during the Vikings stadium debate at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Monday, May 7, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonSpeaker of the House Kurt Zellers chats with staff during the Vikings stadium debate at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Monday, May 7, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonVikings supporter Ken Shank, second from left, watches the Vikings stadium debate with his son Josiah Shank, 11, left, his daughter Ariana Shank, 10, right, and his grandson Luke Shank, 7, at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Monday, May 7, 2012.MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson